Following rumours making the rounds that the Abia State government has ceded the proposed Trailer Park at Arungwa in Osisioma LGA for the controversial RUGA settlement, the State Government has maintained that it will not give out any part of its land for the RUGA settlement under any giuse.
Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General of the state, Barr. Uche Ihediwa who stated this while reacting to the allegations, described the rumour as wicked and malicious adding that such move will be contrary to the position of the South East Governors.
Ihediwa who was briefing journalists at Government House Umuahia, in company of the Chief Press secretary to the Governor, Onyebuchi Ememanka and the the Traditional Ruler of Arungwa Community, Eze Ndukwe Enwereji, further described the allegations by one Eze (Prof.) S. I Owuala, the Traditional Ruler of Umuobasi community in Osisioma LGA as unfounded.
He explained that although there was a request on allocation of land to be used as Trailer Park by the Federal government under the President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, the state government did not meet the requirements hence the project was aborted while the land earmarked for the project was used for a car assembling plant.
In his words: “They(FG) were looking for 50 hectares of land in that place but when we went round the available land,it was just 20 hectares and we aborted that assignment. This same Osisioma land was now penciled for a car assembling plant which the Governor attracted from China”.
“For all intents and purposes, it was supposed to be a trailer park. I challenge him(Eze Owuala) to bring the letter of allocation issued to federal Ministry of Transport. There is none. Nobody has issued any letter of allocation talkless of a Certificate of Occupancy to the Federal Government for the purposes of even a trailer park.
“It will be insensitive and contrary to what the the governor’s of the entire South East stands for; to allow anything that is in the nature of RUGA. The Governor has been emphatic, and as a former commissioner for Lands and Survey, I was one of the first to say, we will not give out land for herdsmen under any guise”.
While refuting claims by the Former Governor, Orji Uzor Kalu that he built a RUGA settlement at Lokpanta,the Attorney General noted that what is sited at Lokpanta is a cattle market and not RUGA settlement.
According to him, Abia State government would henceforth scrutinize any request for Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) for any land in excess of 5 hectares to ensure such lands are not converted to RUGA settlement.
The Attorney General therefore gave Eze Owuala 7 days ultimatum to withdraw his false allegations or get ready to meet the State government in the law court.
